Franklin Soldiers and Sailors Monument

Standing on the Town Common in Franklin is the town’s Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a lasting tribute to the men of Franklin who served in the Civil War dedicated on Memorial Day. May 30, 1903, the monument was commissioned during the great wave of Civil War remembrance that swept across New England in the decades after the war ended.  

The monument was a gift from Frederick Atwood Newell, a Franklin native and Civil War. Newell donated the monument and helped fund improvements and landscaping for the Town Common so the memorial would stand in a setting worthy of the sacrifice it commemorated. The sculptor connected to the standing soldier figure was Carl Conrads. He was a German immigrant and Civil War veteran who became nationally known for his monumental granite sculptures including work displayed at the United States Capitol.

The soldier standing atop the monument is not meant to represent one specific individual. He symbolizes the ordinary Union citizen-soldier, the local farmer, worker or young man who left his Massachusetts town to preserve the Union. His stance is calm and watchful rather than dramatic or triumphant.

Walking around the monument, every side carries symbolic meaning. One face honors the Navy with naval imagery. Other sides recognize the Army with military emblems. Carved high on the pedestal are the names of major Civil War battles including Antietam, Gettysburg and Spotsylvania, battles where men from Franklin served.

At the heart of the memorial is the inscription: “In Grateful Remembrance of the Men of Franklin Who Fought to Save the Union”.

In nineteenth century New England the common was the civic heart of community life. By placing the monument here, Franklin ensured that remembrance became part of daily life. Generations of townspeople would continue to encounter the memory of the Civil War woven into the center of town life.